Outside Magazine Names Burlington a 'Best Town Ever’

The results are in for Outside’s Best Town Ever competition, in which the magazine put out a call to readers to vote among 64 top towns to determine their favorite. Ranking at number seven, Burlington was called one of the 16 greatest places to live in America. According to the editors, what set the finalists apart were attributes like thriving food scenes, bike lanes and walkable neighborhoods, green spaces and access to adventure, including trails, rivers, mountains and lakes.

Praising Burlington, Outside includes a global-health lecture at the University of Vermont in its rundown of inviting activities, along with evening bike races, the Church Street jazz festival and sailing -- or snow kiting -- on Lake Champlain, depending on the season.

A UVM alum sums it up for the magazine: “I’ve lived and traveled all over the West, and Burlington is hard to beat,” says R.J. Thompson, a runner who works in solar installation and is training to break the speed record on Vermont’s 273-mile Long Trail. “There’s a kindheartedness among people that can’t be found in many other places.”